VOA慢速英语2011--Food Expressions, Part Two

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. We received a list of expressions about food from Elenir Scardueli, a listener¹ from Brazil.
Today we will talk about some good things to eat. If something is new and improved, we say it is the best thing since sliced bread. In the past, bread was only sold in loaves in baked goods stores. Today, American supermarkets sell sliced bread in plastic bags. Many people thought this was easier because you did not have to cut the bread yourself. The person who makes the most money in a family is called the breadwinner.
Bread and butter issues² are those that are most important to Americans and affect them directly³ – like jobs and health care.
Half a loaf is better than none means⁴ that getting part of what you want is better than getting nothing at all. If you know which side your bread is buttered on, then you know what your best interests are and will act to protect them.
Many Americans like their bread toasted. Toast is cooked with dry heat until it starts to turn brown. But you are in big trouble if someone tells you you’re toast.
If you say something is a piece of cake, it means something is really easy, like a test you take in school. Cakes are often covered with a sweet topping, called icing. Icing on the cake means something good that happens in addition to another good thing. Another expression says you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. This means you cannot have everything your way, especially if two wishes oppose⁵ each other.
Hotcakes are also called pancakes. They contain flour, eggs, milk and baking powder. You cook them in a frying pan⁶ and eat them with fruit or a sweet topping. If a new product is popular and selling well, you might say it is selling like hotcakes.
But if a friend of yours did something bad, you might stop being friends with him immediately or drop him like a hotcake.
Flat as a pancake describes something that is, well, really flat.
A tough cookie is not something you want to eat. It is a person who is difficult to deal with, and would do anything necessary to get what he or she wants. This person could be a sharp cookie or someone who is not easily fooled. Very often things do not go the way we planned. Instead of getting angry or sad, you might just accept it and say that’s the way the cookie crumbles⁷.
Many pies are also good to eat. If something is easy to do, you could say it is easy as pie. But if you do something wrong or bad, you might have to apologize and show you are sorry. In other words, you might have to eat humble⁸ pie.
If you have an idea or plan that is not really possible, someone might say it is pie in the sky. If something is really easy to do, you might say it is like taking candy from a baby. But that would not be a very nice thing to do!
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This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Faith Lapidus. You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at our website, voaspecialenglish.com.

1 listener   

n.听众；收听者

参考例句：

• I'm a regular listener to her show.我经常收听她的节目。
• She became an attentive listener.她变成了一个专心致志的聆听者。

2 issues   

（水等的）流出( issue的名词复数 )； 出口； 放出； （特别重要或大众关注的）问题

参考例句：

• Let's start with the more easily addressable issues. 我们先从较容易处理的问题着手。
• Employment and taxation are the bread-and-butter issues of politics. 就业和征税是很重要的政治问题。

3 directly   

adv.直接地，径直地；马上，立即

参考例句：

• I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息，马上打电话给你。
• She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。

4 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

5 oppose   

vt.反对，以…对抗，抗争；vi.反对

参考例句：

• The government called on the workers to oppose waste.政府号召工人反对浪费。
• The old man can't bear anyone in the family to oppose him.这位老人决不能容忍家里有人违抗他。

6 pan   

n.平底锅；v.严厉批评

参考例句：

• The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了，锅也烧坏了。
• The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。

7 crumbles   

酥皮水果甜点( crumble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This cake crumbles too easily. 这种蛋糕太容易碎了。
• This bread crumbles ever so easily. 这种面包非常容易碎。

8 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。